NHL 2025-26 Key Dates Include Olympic Break, Florida Outdoor Games
The NHL has an interesting calendar this year. Before the changes from the new collective bargaining agreement kick in for 2026-27, this will be the last year of an 82-game regular season, before that number increases to 84. We've got a pair of outdoor games scheduled for the Sunshine State and the league's newest franchise will debut its new branding, but international hockey looks set to dominate the discourse.
Here's what to keep an eye on.
International Events
The marquee hockey event of the year will be the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The men's hockey tournament will run from Feb. 11-22 at two arenas in Milan, with 12 nations competing.
To accommodate the return of NHL players to the competition for the first time since 2014, the league will be dark from Feb. 6-25.
The league is staging one NHL Global Series event in 2025-26. With Swedish stars Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell and Filip Forsberg taking center stage, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators will square off for a pair of games at Avicii Arena in Stockholm on Nov. 14 and Nov. 16, 2025.
Also worth mentioning on the international calendar: the 2026 World Junior Championship will return to the United States for the first time since 2018. With the United States looking to three-peat for the first time in program history, the world's 10 best U20 teams will compete in Saint Paul and Minneapolis from Dec. 26, 2025 to Jan. 5, 2026.
Pre-Season Play
The jump to 84 regular-season games in the 2026-27 season coincides with a reduced pre-season calendar. Under the new rules, teams will play no more than four exhibition games, and players with at least 100 games of NHL experience won't play in more than two of them.
This fall, will be the last time the calendar looks similar to what we've seen in recent years. Teams typically play between five and eight exhibition games, which include smattering of neutral-site contests. There won't be any pre-season games in Europe this year.
Here's the full list of nine neutral-site games. Like last season, we'll see two games in Quebec City at the NHL-ready Videotron Centre — this time with the Ottawa Senators featured in both games. We'll also see the return of some regular annual showcases including the 'Empire Classic' between Southern California's Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks and a rematch between the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning in Orlando.
Utah Mammoth Brand Debut
One year after the Utah Hockey Club debuted after purchasing the hockey assets of the Arizona Coyotes, the new team is set to hit the ice with its new Utah Mammoth branding.
The team will wear its new jerseys for the first time in a pair of split-squad games against the Colorado Avalanche on Sept. 21. They'll be the road team at Denver's Ball Arena and designated as the home team for the neutral-site game at the University of Denver.
The Mammoth's true home debut will come in a pre-season game against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, Oct. 2 at Delta Center, and their regular-season debut will be against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
2025 Opening Night
The 2025-26 NHL regular season will kick off with a tripleheader on Tuesday, Oct. 7.
The Florida Panthers will kick off the festivities with their second banner raising at Amerant Bank Arena before they take on the Chicago Blackhawks (5 p.m. ET). Then, the Penguins will face the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET) before the night wraps up with the Colorado Avalanche taking on the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena (10:30 p.m. ET).
2025 Hockey Hall of Fame Weekend
The annual celebration of the latest inductees into the Hockey Hall of Fame will take place from Nov. 8-10 in Toronto. Special events will include the Hockey Hall of Fame game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday, Nov. 9 and the induction ceremony in the Great Hall on Monday, Nov. 10.
With Seattle Kraken president Ron Francis now serving as the chair of the Hall of Fame's selection committee, this year's class features eight inductees. The six players are Zdeno Chara, Duncan Keith, Alexander Mogilny and Joe Thornton along with Jennifer Botterill and Brianna Decker. In the builder category, general manager Daniele Sauvageau of the PWHL's Montreal Victoire will become the first woman inducted as a builder. She goes in alongside longtime Boston University coach Jack Parker.
Outdoor Games
In 2025-26, the NHL will mount its first-ever outdoor games ever in the Sunshine State.
With the Florida Panthers now back-to-back Stanley Cup champions and the Tampa Bay Lightning having won two Cups themselves in 2020 and 2021, the tentpole events were long overdue — but challenging to mount given the weather conditions in the region.
The Panthers will face the New York Rangers at 2026 NHL Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park in Miami on Friday, Jan. 2 as the league continues to look at moving off the traditional Jan. 1 date that it traditionally favored. Last year's even at Wrigley Field in Chicago was held on Dec. 31.
The home of baseball's Miami Marlins, LoanDepot Park features a retractable roof and air conditioning — features should be enormously helpful during the ice-making process for the game's temporary rink.
Then, on Sunday, Feb. 1, the Lightning will face the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium, the home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game will fall one day after Tampa's famed Gasparilla Pirate Fest, and a week before Super Bowl LX in California.
Because of the Olympics, it has been decided that there will be no All-Star event in 2026. There is also no Heritage Classic outdoor game scheduled in Canada among the NHL 2025-26 key dates.
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